iPad Owners: What was the first Star Trek title you bought/loaded?

I remain unconvinced. The fact is, Apple's iBooks is just too darn convenient. And it even lets you sync books with iTunes, so they're easier to back up. And I'm certainly not going to get another e-reader now that I have the iPad.

Guess I never bought into all the Apple hate, really. I'm quite happy to get all my music and books from them.. If this upsets anyone, well, I'm sorry, but them's the breaks.

^ It's probably jealousy more than anything else. Apple pretty much single-handedly revolutionized (some might say invented) the online music industry, with the iPod and the iTunes Store. And now they're poised to do the same with eBooks, now that the iPad (a potential Kindle killer) is on the loose. Some people just can't abide that.

They will most likely whine about how Apple is controlling the book and music industries now. My response is: I'll send a telegram when I give a crap. Apple satisfies my needs quite handily. I don't CARE what they control. (Besides, I trust Apple far more than, say, Microsoft...)

^ It's probably jealousy more than anything else. Apple pretty much single-handedly revolutionized (some might say invented) the online music industry, with the iPod and the iTunes Store. And now they're poised to do the same with eBooks, now that the iPad (a potential Kindle killer) is on the loose. Some people just can't abide that.

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I can abide them revolutionizing it just fine. I'd just prefer if they'd do it the same way they did with music - lower prices and convenience. So far they're failing on the first of those counts for everybody, and both for me until iPhone OS 4.0 comes out.

I don't really care what the eBooks cost. The real issue here the number of different readers on the market and their exorbitant prices. I'd love a Nook or Kindle but can no way in hell justify the cost in buying one as I have a baby on the way. I've still got several dozen books to read in dtf before my wife will let me buy eBooks, though I'm in talks with her about that.

What I would like is for Sony to give me a relatively cheap eBook reader with wifi so I can download the books wherever I want instead of having to download them to my laptop first. i'd be happy with the Kindle or the Nook dropping their price too.

You don't get it. Apple allowed the Agency pricing. They are responsible for the mess it's caused. Before the agency pricing, I could get most Trek eBooks for less then $7.99 (for new ones). Now the price is at $7.99 for most new ones. This is without any sort of sale or discount. The agency model now says that there cannot be any sales or discounts. The paper editions can have discounts.

Now you have an eBook tethered to just the iPad. Because it's stuck with just one place to read it, the value is even less. If you want Trek eBooks, buy from any shop other then Apple and strip the DRM. iBooks will allow you to sync DRM-free ePub. At least you'd have an eBook with more value because it's not stuck on just one device.

One thing I haven't read in JWolf's comments is that after Apple agreed to the agency model pricing with publishers, the publishers (5 out of the big 6, including S&S) went around and basically forced other ebook sellers into the agency model--it's either the agency model or nothing.

That said, as far as I can tell, you still can't buy Star Trek ebooks from independent ebook sellers, such as BooksOnBoard, over a month later--you can only buy them from big name sellers, such as Amazon, Apple, Sony, and B&N, or from S&S directly. Not much choice right now.

Also, I notice that Ipad, unlike Kindle, can read any books aloud using their inbuilt screen reader Voice-over. Has anyone tried this with a trek book and if so how did it go?

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Wow, I never knew that option existed. I had to turn the speech speed way down to be able to understand it, and controlling the iPad with voiceover mode on is quite difficult, but after figuring all that out, the voiceover isn't that bad. Since I don't have any problems with my eyes, I doubt I'll be using that feature, but it was reading Zero Sum Game well enough to be understood.

Actually, Kindle also reads books aloud. It's not great, but it's also definitely "well enough to be understood."

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Would you say they are suitable for a partially sighted (or even blind) person in this capacity?

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I've only used a Kindle for all of about 5 minutes one time, and used the voiceover capability of my iPad for about 5 minutes this morning, but I'd be willing to bet the Kindle is better for reading for the blind, because of the sheer difficulty of controlling a touch screen vs the controls of the Kindle. Apple obviously put a lot of thought into the voiceover stuff, but it was a bear for me to use, and I could see the things I was trying to click.

Actually, Kindle also reads books aloud. It's not great, but it's also definitely "well enough to be understood."

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Would you say they are suitable for a partially sighted (or even blind) person in this capacity?

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I've only used a Kindle for all of about 5 minutes one time, and used the voiceover capability of my iPad for about 5 minutes this morning, but I'd be willing to bet the Kindle is better for reading for the blind, because of the sheer difficulty of controlling a touch screen vs the controls of the Kindle. Apple obviously put a lot of thought into the voiceover stuff, but it was a bear for me to use, and I could see the things I was trying to click.

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Thanks for the input guys.

Just let me clarify something reguarding the Kindel in this situationn. Although it has audio output capability, it is down to the publishers to decide whether or not it is enabled for a perticular title. This is beecause when it first came out the publishers wern't happy claiming that it would effect the sales of audio books! Rather than make a fight of it Amazon just gave them the option to deny this feature to users if they so chose. As a result just about all of the latest trek books do not have audio output enabled for the Kindle. This is why I was looking at the Ipad as they clame they can read all-comers.

I think that there are ways to use the Ipad when voice-over is activated but I only know this from reading up, Ive never even held an Ipad before mutch less tried to use it. As I am blind I dont relish the idea of working with a touch screen, although I'm sure I'll figure it out. Especially since it looks like it's going to be my best chance of reading trek lit.